So here I am again at my heaviest and feeling unhealthiest. I just stepped on the scale for the first time in weeks. 194 lbs. So not exactly the heaviest, but close to it. I’ve never topped 200 lbs in my life but I’ve been here a handful of times.
My game weight is 170. Over 180, I start feeling fat. Over 190 and my body is definitely not all moving together in unison. You know when you can feel things bouncing that shouldn’t be when you go down stairs?
I do know from experience that 30 days of Ketosis can shed 20-30 lbs.
What’s a Keto diet? It’s eating a low carb diet with high fat and protein. By doing so, you get your body into a state called Ketosis, which means that eventually it will start burning fat for fuel instead of carbs. It’s pretty important that you keep your macro-nutrients in line (fat, carbs, protein) and there’s calculation you can do. There are calculators all over the web. That’s for another post. I just calculated my own macros and got this quick result, which is in line with what I’ve always done.
- 1741 calories
- 129 g fats
- 20 g carbs
- 124 g protein
That’s based on my height, weight, age, and pct body fat and a 20% deficit in recommended calories for weight loss.
The Essentials
So here we go. I’m starting my day with bulletproof coffee. That’s coffee mixed with 1 tbsp MCT/coconut oil and 2 tbsp of butter. Some people have a hard time with that much oil, so you may want to ease into it.
Bulletproof coffee is filling and gets you toward those fat goals with some healty fats. MCT oil has lots of benefits such as energy and brain boosting according to some people.
I highly recommend blending your bulletproof coffee. If you just stir it, you’ll end up with a slick of butter and oil that you drink the coffee through. Not a great experience.
I use an immersion blender which whips it up into a froth. You can also use a blender, special purpose milk frother or even a shaker bottle.
Pro tip: Use something that’s easy to clean or the hassle will quickly overcome the novelty. An immersion blender is very easy. A full on blender is the worst.
Meal Prep
Our kitchen has all new stuff in it, so I’m excited to start learning new and adapting old keto recipes. We’ve replaced our stovetop with an induction cooktop. We also have an air fryer and instant pot.
Today I’m going to make a few recipes, I’m thinking bacon cheddar or gruyere sous vide egg bites for lunch and chicken tikka masala for dinner over cauli-rice. I already made the bacon this morning.
Oh wait, never mind. The kids just ate it. I’ll make more.
Now there’s “clean keto” and “dirty keto”, which is related to the types of food that you eat. Greasy bacon cheeseburgers 24/7 is probably not great, even though you can achieve your macro goals eating like that.
I’ve found that dirty works, though obviously clean is healther. It is nice to spoil yourself with cheese and bacon sometimes because you’re giving up things bread and french fries. We’re going for a lifestyle that we can actually live with long-term here. Self-torture is not a long-term strategy that can work.
And everything really.
There are lots of ways to make bacon. Here’s my order of preference in order taking into consideration taste, convenience, and cleanup.
Air fryer > Oven > Microwave > Frying pan
Air fryer bacon is easy to make and control the doneness depending on your personal preference of chewy vs crunchy and cleanup is easy. All the fat drains into the bottom of the fryer bin.
While I wrote this, I drank that big cup of bulletproof coffee and am ready to take on Keto.
Follow along as I share recipes and my progress right here on Jangro.com.
I don’t believe most highly restrictive diets like this are sustainable for most peoe. But hopefully it works for you. I gave up processed grains but have seen zero weight loss. That’s despite biking average 21,000 miles since 2015. So not fair!
I agree on sustainability. We’re actually changing over to counting macros, not restrictive, just strict counting.
There’s one simple truth. If you aren’t losing weight you are eating more calories than your body uses. Doesn’t matter if the calories are from salad, ice cream, or beer. It’s all the same from that standpoint.